PRESS RELEASE

Experts to take the stage at ITB Asia’s most comprehensive conference line-up to-date

‘The Trade Show for the Asian Travel Market’, organised by Messe Berlin (Singapore) has announced its most comprehensive conference programme line-up to-date. Designed to cater to the business needs of industry players, the programme will have something for everyone all across the Asian travel industry. This year’s event will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore from 29-31 October 2014.

The seventh instalment of the annual trade show will have over 4080 minutes of high powered content over 30 sessions. These include sessions from Robb Report Singapore, TTG Asia, American Express Meetings & Events, Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), NATAS, MPI and K.I.T Group. Strengthening its position as a dynamic marketplace of ideas and business opportunities, a wide range of topics will be on offer including sessions on how to identify opportunities amid uncertainties, distinguish upcoming trends, manage the growth of travel events in Asia and deal with the challenges of an increasingly digital world.

“As one of the most international travel trade shows in the region, our conference programme has developed a reputation as a key knowledge platform that helps top decision makers from all spectrums of the industry. Delegates at this year’s conference can expect informative and tailored sessions that will deliver insights into the latest developments, challenges and trends in travel for 2015, leaving attendees with valuable learning points to help them transform and grow their businesses,” said Nino Gruettke, Executive Director of ITB Asia.

Identifying opportunities under uncertainties

Delegates can attend a variety of sessions designed to optimise business performance in the face of ever-changing industry terrain. Manuel Ferrer, Founding Partner & Chairman of QOS Consultancy, will lead a panel discussion on strategies and tips to survive the regional trend of consolidation in the Asian hospitality and travel industry. Building on lessons learnt from regions such as Europe and the US, this session will explore how companies in Asia can take steps to strengthen and adapt their businesses to succeed in these changing environments.

Additional sessions highlighting opportunities such as the market potential of Chinese travellers from secondary cities will also provide delegates with new insights as well as angles for potential business growth and development.

Industry insights and trends

Robb Report Singapore will host its inaugural session at this year’s event, allowing delegates access to even more in-depth analysis on the latest luxury travel trends. Amrita Banta, Managing Director of Agility Research & Strategy, and Jean-Michel Dumont, Chairman of Ruder Finn Asia, will share keynote addresses highlighting the latest insights into the ‘Affluent Asian Traveller’, and strategies for successful brand expansion in Asia respectively, before exploring these issues through panel discussions involving heads of hospitality and luxury brands from across the region.

Building on this strong line-up, Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), will host a Business Travel Day, offering attendees engaging and useful content on the latest economic forecasts of business travel spend in the region, as well as insights to support expansion in the Asian travel market. GBTA will also be launching their latest Business Travel Index Report which will highlight key findings into corporate travel trends for Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC).

Managing the digital arena

Rapid digitalization and proliferation of smart devices for travel booking has led to the emergence of the new age omnichannel traveller. Navigating and leveraging the synergies between online and offline will soon be essential to the way travel agencies run their businesses. Delegates can hear from Laurens Van Den Oever, Global Director - Travel and Tourism, GfK share his insights into how elements such as e-vouchers, in store terminals and online applications can work together to create a vibrant market place of the future.

The powerful line up of events continues with the highly-anticipated TTG Asia Conference focusing on travel operators’ usage of the 5Cs – Cloud, Content, Channels, Customer Marketing and C-level strategy – to stay ahead. The conference will also detail what it means to for travel trade companies to adopt a mobile-first approach, expand their range of content, launch successful digital campaigns as well as how to build a tech-savvy workforce. The winner of the prestigious TTG Asia 40tude Innovator Award will also be announced at the event.

A talk by Andrew Demaria, Executive Producer for CNN Digital Asia and CNN Travel will explore how travel companies are using big data analytics tools to connect with the digital traveller.

Furthermore, a session outlining how innovation in travel technology is opening up Asian markets to Western business travellers by Blacklane Limousines‎ will demonstrate some of the untapped potential of the Asian travel market, raising awareness of how travel technology has facilitated increased investment in Asia through improving mobility for international business people on the ground.

Growth of events in Asia

American Express Meetings & Events will help to shed some light on issues impacting the meetings space including digital meetings solutions, planning in emerging markets, tips for successful sourcing and insights on how to make the most of key industry trends for 2015.

MPI will help delegates explore the impact and design of incentive meetings to achieve business results. The session will examine the potential advantages and disadvantages of including business components in incentive meetings, while also allowing delegates to learn from the latest global trends.

Through ITB Asia’s partnership with leading conference management company, K.I.T. Group, this year’s conference programme will also see two back to back educational sessions on the growth and outlook of international association events in Asia.

Last year, the ITB Asia attracted close to 9,100 attendees, representing over 110 countries and these numbers are expected to grow again this year underscoring the ability of attendees to “meet the world” at this three day event.

As a global platform to share industry insights and best practices, ITB Asia operates alongside the Web in Travel (WIT) Conference as an essential networking platform for all players in the travel industry. ITB Asia is also a partner event of TravelRave 2013, a mega travel and tourism festival week organised by the Singapore Tourism Board.